Local government transparency index: determinants of municipalities’ rankings

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquim Filipe Ferraz Esteves de Araujo ◽  
Francisca Tejedo-Romero
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Transparency ◽  
Abuse Of Power ◽  
Transparency International ◽  
Official Sources

Purpose – Cases of corruption, embezzlement, theft and fraud, abuse of discretion, favoritism, nepotism, clientelism, and abuse of power in governments have led to a growing demand from society to access public information. In response to this demand, governments have been forced to be more transparent in the conduct of their activities. The information transparency index (TI) may be conditioned by economic and political characteristics of local governments affecting the information provided. What factors influenced the index of municipal transparency? Literature about transparency is largely based on the explanations of the agency theory and the legitimacy theory. Based on the postulates of both theories, the purpose of this paper is twofold. First, study the index transparency in Spanish municipalities, and, second, determine the main features that are affecting the index of transparency. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from Transparency International Spain ranking and from official sources. Univariate and multivariate analysis are performed for the treatment of data. Findings – The results shows that political factors like electoral turnout, political ideology, and political competition have a significant effect on the index of transparency. Gender has no significant effect on the index of transparency. Originality/value – This study is a contribution to the growing body literature of transparency in order to understand what explains the variations of the TI among municipalities.

Analysing the accounting measurement of financial sustainability in local governments through political factors

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 2135-2164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar ◽  
Andrés Navarro Galera ◽  
María Deseada López Subirés ◽  
Laura Alcaide Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Financial Sustainability ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Measurement ◽  
Generalised Method Of Moments

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to obtain new knowledge about the accounting measurement of financial sustainability in local governments, by studying the influence of political factors on the evolution of income statements.Design/methodology/approachThis paper analyses income statements of Spanish municipalities from 2006 to 2014, together with mayor profiles and political-institutional factors, using the generalised method of moments system.FindingsThe income statement represents a useful measure to assess financial sustainability, showing the effect of political factors on three dimensions proposed by IFAC (i.e. service, revenue and debt), such as ideological coincidence, political competition, political ideology, and absolute majority or political fragmentation.Practical implicationsThe findings can be useful for policymakers and accountants responsible for accountability, supervisory bodies, fiscal authorities, voters, users of public services and other stakeholders interested in governmental income statements.Social implicationsIn the Eurozone, the crisis of government finance has made the citizens and the policymakers question the size and volume of public services. Likewise, in countries such as Spain, politicians remain one of the main problems for citizens. These circumstances make it very interesting and timely to study the accounting measurement of financial sustainability and its political explanations.Originality/valueThe findings provide new empirical evidence about the accounting measurement of financial sustainability in local governments, and they identify political factors that influence the evolution of income statements.

scholarly journals TRANSPARANSI INFORMASI PEMERINTAH DAERAH MELALUI WEBSITE: FAKTOR POLITIK ATAU KEUANGAN?

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Sutaryo Sutaryo ◽  
Kurniasari Tri Amanu
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Complete Information ◽  
Information Delivery ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Information Transparency ◽  
Competition Level ◽  
Government Websites

<p><em>This research aims to examine the effect of political factors covering regent/mayor profile, political ideology and political competition level, and financial factors covering liquidity and regional independence on information transparency of local government in Indonesia. This study analyzes 309 Indonesian local government websites using multiple linear regression. The result shows that regent/mayor profile, political competition level and regional independence affect information transparency of local government. Meanwhile, political ideology and financial liquidity do not have significant effect. This result implies to local governments to improve their financial independence in order to encourage more complete information delivery. In addition, people should be more precise and careful on local government information, especially in a local government led by incumbent head and in low local political competition. Incumbent regional heads tend to deliver more information to defend their power while low local political competition leads to a tendency of lower information delivery.</em></p>

scholarly journals Political competition and debt: evidence from New Zealand local governments

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-361
Author(s):  
Bikram Chatterjee ◽  
Sukanto Bhattacharya ◽  
Grantley Taylor ◽  
Brian West
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Debt Level ◽  
Out Of Sample ◽  
The Common ◽  
Artificial Neural Network Ann

Purpose This paper aims to investigate whether the amount of local governments’ debt can be predicted by the level of political competition. Design/methodology/approach The study uses the artificial neural network (ANN) to test whether ANN can “learn” from the observed data and make reliable out-of-sample predictions of the target variable value (i.e. a local government’s debt level) for given values of the predictor variables. An ANN is a non-parametric prediction tool, that is, not susceptible to the common limitations of regression-based parametric forecasting models, e.g. multi-collinearity and latent non-linear relations. Findings The study finds that “political competition” is a useful predictor of a local government’s debt level. Moreover, a positive relationship between political competition and debt level is indicated, i.e. increases in political competition typically leads to increases in a local government’s level of debt. Originality/value The study contributes to public sector reporting literature by investigating whether public debt levels can be predicted on the basis of political competition while discounting factors such as “political ideology” and “fragmentation”. The findings of the study are consistent with the expectations posited by public choice theory and have implications for public sector auditing, policy and reporting standards, particularly in terms of minimising potential political opportunism.

Explaining Public-Private Partnership Projects through Political Factors: An Assessment of Developing Countries

2021 ◽  
pp. 003232172110403
Author(s):  
Noemí Peña-Miguel ◽  
Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Public Private Partnership ◽  
Public Private Partnerships ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Private Partnership ◽  
The Government

This article analyses the effect of political factors on the use of Public Private Partnerships in developing countries. According to a sample of 80 low- and middle-income countries over the period 1995–2017, our findings suggest that Public Private Partnership projects are affected by political ideology, the strength of the government and electoral cycles. Concretely, they tend to be used by left-wing governments to a greater extent than governments with other ideologies. Public Private Partnerships also tend to be more frequently used by fragmented governments and when there is greater political competition. There is also some evidence (although slight) on the relevance of the proximity of elections in explaining Public Private Partnerships in developing countries.

When does Main Street prefer Wall Street? Legitimacy, status, and decision-making

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas G. Altura
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
The United States ◽  
Municipal Bonds ◽  
High Status ◽  
Wall Street ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Selection Decisions

PurposeWhen and why do organizations prefer high-status exchange partners? While past work has focused on status as a signal to the marketplace, this study shows that actors use the selected organization's status as a signal to legitimate their own selection decision.Design/methodology/approachThe context of the study is the selection of investment banks by local governments in the United States for the purpose of selling municipal bonds to investors. Hypotheses were developed through interviews with participants in the public and private sectors and were then tested using generalized estimating equations (GEEs). The models include 6,720 selection decisions nested within 1,032 local governments.FindingsInterview data reveal that governmental decision-makers struggle with interdepartmental conflict and are concerned about the perceived legitimacy of decisions in the “political arena”. The quantitative results confirm that with respect to selection decisions, the social context of the local government matters. Specifically, racial/ethnic heterogeneity, political competition and functional complexity—contexts where actors must signal independence and objectivity in decision-making—are each associated with an increased likelihood of retaining a high-status investment bank.Originality/valueThe study shows that a preference for a high-status partner is not just market driven. Rather, it emerges also from the legitimacy demands of the organization's own participants. More broadly, the study reveals how organizational decision-making—even that pertaining to the external market environment—is embedded in an organization-specific social reality.

Public value of e-government services through emerging technologies

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 530-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Valle-Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Developing Country ◽  
Data Privacy ◽  
Emerging Technologies ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Data Access ◽  
Public Value ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Transparency ◽  
Government Services

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that generate public value in e-government services through emerging technologies and to answer the following question: Which are the factors that generate public value, in the e-government services, through emerging technologies? Design/methodology/approach Based on a multivariate linear regression model, the author tests the public value of e-government services through emerging technologies in the metropolitan area of the Toluca Valley. Five factors are evaluated to understand public value: anti-corruption strategies, access to public information, transparency platforms, social media and service kiosks. Findings Smart strategies and technologies must be guided by the generation of public value through anti-corruption strategies, open data, access to information and data privacy. The efforts of governments should focus on avoiding corruption, making government transparent, opening data and correct handling of information privacy. Technology is an important mechanism to boost public value generation. Research limitations/implications Mexico is a developing country, and there are very few emerging technologies implemented in e-Government. Practical implications The results are important to identify good practices for the generation of public value in the e-Government area. Originality/value The study of emerging technologies is a new area in government, and this paper studies the generation of public value through emerging technologies in a developing country.

Political competition and environmental reporting

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monir Zaman Mir ◽  
Bikram Chatterjee ◽  
Ross Taplin
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Agency Theory ◽  
Longitudinal Analysis ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Agency Cost ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between “political competition” and “environmental reporting” by New Zealand local governments. Design/methodology/approach – The research method includes a longitudinal analysis of environmental reporting by New Zealand local governments in their annual reports for the financial years 2005-2006 to 2009-2010. “Content analysis” was used to attach scores to the extent of environmental reporting. The “number of candidates divided by the number of available positions at the previous election” was used as the proxy for “political competition”. Findings – The study reports a positive relationship between “political competition” and “environmental reporting” in 2007-2008. The number of local governments reporting voluntary environmental information increased in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 compared to 2005-2006, followed by a reduction in such numbers following the 2007-2008 financial year. This trend in disclosure can be attributed to the local government elections in October 2007. This finding is consistent with the expectation of “agency theory” and provides insight into the pattern of perceived agency costs. The study also finds a dearth in reporting “monetary” and “bad” news. Originality/value – The study contributes towards the previous literature on environmental reporting by concentrating on the public sector and New Zealand, together with investigating the relationship of such reporting with “political competition” through a longitudinal analysis. The theoretical contribution of this study is the adoption of “agency theory” in the context of public sector voluntary reporting and investigating the significance attached by agents to environmental reporting to minimise agency cost. The practical contribution of the study is in the area of future development of reporting standards in regards to environmental reporting.

Earnings management in local governments: the role of political factors

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Cohen ◽  
Marco Bisogno ◽  
Ioanna Malkogianni
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Accrual Accounting ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Behaviour

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine earnings management practices in local governments (LGs). The implementation of accrual accounting in LGs opens the way for empirical research on the topic, as reporting high surpluses or high deficits can be negatively interpreted by the central government, monitoring authorities, citizens and political opponents. According to public choice theory, the conflicting interests between politicians, who pursue re-election, and voters, who observe politicians’ actions to assess their alignment with social welfare, create fertile ground for earnings management practices. Design/methodology/approach The study calculates discretionary accruals, by using the Jones (1991) model, and relates them to several political variables. It employs a large sample of Greek and Italian LGs. The Greek database covers the period from 2002 to 2015 with about 4,300 observations, and the Italian database includes the period from 2008 to 2015 with about 1,130 observations. Findings The findings from the analysis give evidence that LGs engage in earnings management. The principal factor is the electoral cycle, as earnings management seems to be greater when the mayor is re-elected than when the mayor is elected for the first time. Furthermore, the period before elections create conditions that cultivate earnings management attitudes. Research limitations/implications Previous studies have principally investigated earnings management in the private sector. Considering that many public-sector entities have implemented accrual accounting systems, this study intends to examine earnings management behaviour at the LG level, providing interesting findings for researchers and policy makers. Practical implications A better understanding of the political factors and the financial conditions, which act as obstacles or facilitators, should work hand in hand with the accounting reforms. The usefulness of financial statements for decision making and control presupposes that they are of high quality, an attribute that can be impaired by earnings management. Originality/value This study investigates the influence of political factors on earnings management behaviour in public-sector contexts where self-interest and accountability pressures coexist.

The role of media pressure on the disclosure of sustainability information by local governments

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros ◽  
José Frías-Aceituno ◽  
Jennifer Martínez-Ferrero
Keyword(s):  
Social Engagement ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Media Pressure

Purpose – The aim of this study is to analyse the level of environmental, economic, and social engagement disclosed by local governments, taking into account factors such as political ideology and media pressure. Design/methodology/approach – The authors analysed 102 large Spanish municipalities, using data from 2011. An econometric model was used based on dependency techniques for cross-sectional data. The Tobit technique is suitable, since it enables the authors to address particular considerations of extreme scores on the dependent variable. Findings – The results show that local governments report less strategic and socio-economic information when subjected to strong media pressure, because the press tends to focus on unusual, negative news, and ignores other issues such as the environment. However, in municipalities governed by left-wing parties, media pressure actually promotes disclosure of this type of information. Research limitations/implications – It would be interesting to create an information index which includes local governments' disclosure, spanning a period of several years. Practical implications – Particularly in municipalities governed by a left-wing party, media pressure favours the disclosure of sustainability information, including information about the municipal corporation and strategic and social issues. Originality/value – This study analyses the impact of the press on the disclosure of sustainability information by local governments and also tests the moderating effect of the ruling party's political ideology. The authors did not find any paper that had analysed this impact before.

Social urbanism: public policy and place brand

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 326-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Doyle
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Local Stakeholders ◽  
Place Brand ◽  
The City

PurposeThis paper aims to focus on how a public policy designed to address a social problem ultimately became the place brand.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a qualitative case study approach focusing on the city of Medellín, Colombia. It draws from fieldwork conducted in Medellín over 2014 and 2015, including semi-structured interviews with an array of local stakeholders.FindingsThe paper concludes that local governments should be aware that the policymaking process can become part of their branding. It also shows the importance of the continual involvement of stakeholders in the place brand process to ensure it is a sustainable brand.Originality/valueThere are limited studies which focus on how a public policy designed to address a social problem ultimately becomes the place brand. This paper shows how a public policy, social urbanism, became the branding of Medellín.

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